The Peak Daily

Cohere is continuing its European expansion by acquiring Czech cybersecurity firm Aisle to bolster its sovereign AI platform. Plus, Ottawa is committing $100 million to spur offshore wind power development in Nova Scotia. And in the big picture, CoreWeave’s credit default risk reaches record highs, Ottawa threatens legal action over Stelco layoffs, and Anthropic partners with non-profit METR to ev...

Big banks and telecom giants are joining forces on a new anti-fraud platform to tackle rising scam losses across Canada. Plus, an OpenAI engineer was arrested by the FBI for allegedly placing bugging devices in executive boardrooms. And in the big picture, US regulators accuse banks of debanking political figures, Netflix plans workforce cuts, and SpaceX restricts Starlink access for Ukrainian mil...

Apple is betting big on the smart home market with its new US$299 HomeView hub, featuring a revamped Siri assistant and facial recognition technology. Plus, Canadian defence startup Dominion Dynamics signed a deal with Ukraine’s Tencore to assemble TerMIT ground drones in Canada starting next year. And in the big picture, theme parks shut down roller-coasters following a fatal incident, Toronto cy...

China’s second-largest automaker, Geely, is gearing up to start selling EVs in Canada next year, marking the first major push by a Chinese car manufacturer into the Canadian market.  Plus, hundreds of supermarkets across France were hit by a bizarre cyberattack that remotely manipulated refrigerator temperatures, spoiling food and causing fires.  And in the big picture, suspension of flights in Sa...

Signal and DuckDuckGo are threatening to leave Canada over Ottawa’s proposed lawful access bill, warning that giving police easier access to users’ digital information could undermine privacy and security — while law enforcement says it needs new tools to keep up with criminals. Plus, Ottawa plans to prohibit medical assistance in dying for people whose sole underlying condition is mental illness,...

Canada’s dental care plan is leaving some patients with a bill they weren’t expecting: millions have enrolled, but financial barriers and denied claims are complicating Ottawa’s promise of “free dental care” — even as the program expands access to coverage. Plus, workers who use AI say it’s helping them get things done faster, but the benefits aren’t evenly shared, and faster doesn’t always mean b...

Ottawa’s push to buy Canadian is running into some hard limits: nearly a third of federal procurement dollars have gone to American-controlled companies since Mark Carney took office, as a shortage of homegrown alternatives and international trade rules complicate efforts to keep government spending at home. Plus, a lab worker’s death at a Siberian plague research institute has prompted quarantine...

On today’s podcast, U.S. political operatives are building ties with Alberta separatists — what could that mean for Canada? Plus, Florida’s proposed property-tax changes could leave Canadian snowbirds with a bigger bill. Plus, we cover Quebec’s election, the missing air ambulance carrying four Canadians, Yemen’s offensive against the Houthis, Brazil’s presidential race, and more — all in under 10...

Canada could soon get another regulated prediction market as Verdx seeks approval to offer event contracts to retail and institutional investors — though strict rules barring bets on politics and sports could make it difficult to lure users away from offshore platforms. Plus, McDonald’s is using AI to recommend different prices for the same menu items based on each location’s customer base, fuelli...

Panama is considering reopening First Quantum Minerals’ Cobre Panama copper mine — but only long enough to fund its eventual closure — dealing a major blow to one of Canada’s largest miners and adding pressure to an already tight global copper supply. Plus, OpenAI is facing a first-of-its-kind lawsuit over its agents’ rogue cyberattack on Hugging Face, a case that could help determine who is legal...

Anthropic is targeting a record-breaking $2 trillion valuation for its expected November IPO, even as its prospectus reveals staggering losses, soaring infrastructure costs, and warnings from CEO Dario Amodei that the technology could pose an existential risk to humanity. Plus, Canada earned a passing—but far from glowing—grade from the global anti-financial crime watchdog, avoiding the dreaded gr...

Toronto-based Biossil has become Canada’s newest AI unicorn after raising US$153 million in a round led by OpenAI, betting that artificial intelligence can find new uses for drugs that failed in late-stage clinical trials — and potentially turn pharmaceutical castoffs into medical breakthroughs. Plus, luxury brands like Prada, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton are spending millions to take their wealthies...

OpenAI has paused training on its most powerful models as it and Anthropic investigate tens of thousands of incidents involving rogue agents bypassing safeguards, escaping sandboxes, and taking actions they were never instructed to perform — raising fresh questions about whether even the industry’s top labs can reliably control frontier AI. Plus, China’s Geely has unveiled an EV battery that can c...

Three of the world’s biggest AI companies are forming their own safety group to set standards for frontier models, as a string of rogue-agent hacking incidents raises pressure on the industry to prove it can control the technology it is building. Plus, Empire has reached a legally binding deal to end property controls in its leases, opening more retail space to rival grocers and removing one barri...

LinkedIn is rolling out new tools to crack down on fake identities, bogus work histories, and invented credentials, including a feature that lets former colleagues and classmates vouch for one another and a way for companies to flag people falsely claiming employment. Plus, Cineplex has named Bill Walker as its new CEO and launched a strategic review that could lead to a sale, as a resurgent box o...

BlackBerry’s comeback is shifting into high gear with a landmark US$100 million-plus deal for its new automotive software, a bet that the former smartphone giant can turn its foothold in connected vehicles into a much bigger business. Plus, Canadian defence accelerator Vimy Forge is teaming up with Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District to help startups navigate the costly, complicated process of selli...

Canada is rallying middle powers and developing countries around a new coalition aimed at strengthening cooperation on security, trade, AI, and global challenges — the latest step in Mark Carney’s push to build alliances that don’t revolve around Washington. Plus, Greek discount retailer Jumbo is opening its first Canadian store in Vaughan, joining a wave of international bargain chains betting th...

Newfoundland’s film and television industry is booming as Netflix’s Below becomes the latest Hollywood production to shoot in the province, bringing jobs, local spending, and the potential for a major tourism boost. Plus, Parliament returns with the Carney government preparing to fast-track major projects and overhaul federal labour laws — ambitious moves that could accelerate investment while pro...

Mark Carney lays out a bold vision for a new Canada–EU alliance — from seamless digital trade and critical minerals cooperation to shared AI safety protocols and sovereign compute. We’ll break down what “sovereignty” really means in this context, why Europe seems newly open to deeper partnership, and how Washington could respond. Then, daylight saving time edges closer to extinction: Manitoba join...

Canada’s AI champion Cohere moves to scale up and stake its claim in “sovereign AI” by finalizing merger terms with Germany’s Aleph Alpha — a deal that could reshape the AI landscape. Plus, Salesforce launches an AI shopping agent as “agentic” commerce heats up and brands race to get recommended by chatbots. Also in the Big Picture: talk of Canada becoming the EU’s first “associate member,” the US...

In today’s episode of The Peak Daily , Jay breaks down Ottawa’s new “Productivity Mega Deduction” and what it could mean for major projects like pipelines, mines, data centres, and infrastructure. Then, Airbnb launches a $250M fund to help stalled multi-family rentals cross the finish line — amid ongoing debate over short-term rentals’ impact on housing affordability. Plus, in The Big Picture: Can...

The first day of Canada’s Investment Summit brought a wave of new commitments from banks, investors, and businesses, offering early signs that Ottawa’s push to unlock as much as $1 trillion in capital may be gaining momentum — even if most of the pledges aren’t binding. Plus, Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez and a Chinese state-backed newspaper are pushing back against calls from Silicon Valley’s biggest AI...

AI’s biggest companies are pledging to slow the development of frontier models and open their systems to independent evaluators, an unprecedented attempt to keep increasingly powerful technology from outrunning the industry’s ability to control it. Plus, Mark Carney’s Canada Investment Summit will pitch more than 160 energy and infrastructure projects to hundreds of global investors, testing Ottaw...

Canada’s Supreme Court is weighing whether judges can use alternative remedies instead of throwing out criminal cases when trials take too long, a change that could prevent thousands of cases from being stayed while still protecting defendants’ Charter rights. Plus, Anthropic says it blocked users — including state actors — from using its AI tools to develop weapons, spy on dissidents, and researc...